Author Notes: A base recipe for a moist vegan cake. Its delicious in its simplicity and even if you’re not vegan, worth an experiment. Its also a blank canvas that can be easily adapted to suit ones tastes. I substitute a ¼ of the flour for cocoa if I’m looking for a chocolate cake, I add chai spices, substitute coconut milk/extract for a tropical spin, add zests, fruit purees, swap brown sugar for the white, use agave instead of honey, etc. Its wonderfully versatile. —PieceOfLayerCake
Makes: 2, 8" cake layers
Ingredients
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2 ½
cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
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1 ½
cups granulated sugar
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1 ½
teaspoons baking powder
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1
teaspoon baking soda
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½
teaspoons kosher salt
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2
cups unsweetened almond milk (or coconut milk, or soy milk, or…you get the picture)
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2 ¼
teaspoons apple cider vinegar
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¼
cups neutral flavored oil
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2
tablespoons honey
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1 ½
teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease two, 8″ cake pans and line with parchment paper.
- Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl and whisk to blend. In a separate bowl, whisk together the almond milk, vinegar, oil, honey and vanilla until well mixed. While whisking (either by hand or in a mixer), pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients ⅓ at a time, ensuring that there are no lumps. Whisk only until the batter just comes together.
- Distribute the batter evenly between the two pans and bake for 30 – 35 minutes, or until the cake springs back when gently poked. Allow the cakes to cool in their pans for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Top with your favorite “butter”cream, a light glaze, or just grab chunks and stuff them in your mouth behind the refrigerator door. Kept airtight, the cake will keep well at room temperature for 3 – 4 days, or wrapped, it will keep frozen for up to 2 months.